Pyroi
To look upon, the Pyroi are not entirely unlike the Haarkeen. They have two eyes, two hands, and two legs, and they stand upright when walking about or hunting their food. But Pyre is not Haark. And Pyroi are not soft city-things or quick-tongued merchants who prattle about the price of Banyari honeycomb in civilized places. The first thing you might notice about the Pyroi is their size. They’re absolutely huge. Taller by far than the biggest Hamanu, and much more massive. Their skin ranges from a shining brass to a deep, reddened bronze. Their eyes have no visible whites, but have enormous irises that range from ruby red to copper to burnished gold. Although these Folk have lush hair on the tops of their heads, and the men occasionally wear beards or plaited facial hair, their bodies are entirely hairless, as hairy beings do not fare well near lava geysers and lakes of flame. To provide support for their great size, the Folk of Pyre have large elephantine feet. About a quarter of the way below the knees, their calves becomes wider and thicken to substantial girth. To the Pyroi, massive feet are emblematic of their connection to the fire within the ground, and those feet are often ritually tattooed with stylized flames and explosions of lava, or even decorated with rings of hammered bronze. Above all else, the Pyroi are warriors. Warriors blooded on the magma-veined karst of their unassailable shard. If there are Pyroi who are frail or crippled, they are well hidden in the huts of the elderly and infirm. To that end, male and female Pyroi grow to similar size, with the males being broader of shoulder and the females wider of hip. So if you do ever find yourself in the black glass arenas of the Pyroi, mind the punches of women as much as the punches of men, for only the stoutest gladiator will fight again after such a powerful blow. CULTURE The greatest possession a Pyroi can acquire is social status, as granted by the people of their tribe. With the exception of outliers and hermits, the honors, marks, gifts, and punishments are the foundation of existence. One appeases gods, kills enormous prey, composes a perfect verse, and slays one’s enemies in the name of social standing within the tribe. Even the priests who maintain the Pyroi ancestor-worship customs are given to the vanity of their achievements, with high-ranking Volcano-Priests lording their station over provincial shamans and thinking little of the insane Flameheart mystics who trade away their status for lives out on the open tundra. In order to earn status as a basic member of a Warband, a young Pyroi is to accomplish a series of very precise and well-known tasks called the Labor of Feats. The first task is to serve admirably as a Thrallscout in a warband or hunting party — and to survive the experience! Thrallscouts serve as outriders and lookouts, and it’s not uncommon for young Pyroi to die in fulfillment of this role, being gutted by some gargantuan beast, or misstepping onto the too-thin crust of a newer lava flow. Even among those that live, not all Pyroi ascend beyond the rank of Thrallscout. But if they do, they will achieve worthiness and enter the warband as a full member, albeit a low- ranking one. The more martial of the warbands call these members Firethanes. The next step, or second task defines the young Pyroi's role within Pyroi culture. They chooses which of the Four Pillars they wish to serve and choose a Warband they will be loyal to. After making this choice, they complete a training process and demonstrate a basic ability in that Pillar, for example a Volcano-Priest must learn to perform ceremonial rituals and sacrifices and then demonstrate their ability to their mentor. The final task, sometimes called the laborious feat, depends on the warband to which the Pyroi is pledged. The Sons of Shaithus, for example, expect a small monument of bone and skull to be built and added to the great wall of remains erected by their hunting ancestors for countless cycles. The Jebtsuk Temple Guard require a lifetime’s dedication to a complicated honor code, all while zealously pursuing advancement in a society that rarely has openings for such social movement. The Embertongue Poets of Mahalank demand the composition of perfectly spun stanza that, if deemed worthy, will be added to their endless poem. The Circle of Brass, though secret in all other things, is known to require a gratuitous offering of gold and jewels, spread out over seven cycles. Once the laborious feat is performed, the Pyroi is recognized as a hero of the people and bestowed a more grandiose title befitting their new station, such as “The Ascended Magma Prophet of the Temple of Jebtsuk,” “Wing-Master Kiadhor of Ten Rings,” or “The Wind and Flame of Endless Song.” Despite their audacity, these names are well earned, and those who bear them are truly champions among a Folk of natural heroes. It is not uncommon in the fables and myths of other Folk for a judge or champion from Pyroi culture to appear and serve as the decisive hand in some conflict. SOCIAL STRUCTURE The social standing of any Pyroi individual is not to be confused with what are referred to as the Four Pillars of Pyroi society, a distinct and separate concept. These Four Pillars, or groups, are not ranked one above the other like so many Aurumel castes, but some of the groups do have a sort of social advantage over others. The Four Pillars of Pyroi Culture are: # Volcano Priests - religious and cultural leaders # Warbands - defenders of the tribe from other Folk # Embertongues - diplomats and courtiers # Hunting Parties - both hunters and defenders from natural threats A strange fifth grouping stands apart from the Four Pillars, but remains a fundamental part of Pyroi culture is the clan of mystics, called Flamehearts. While these pillars are not ranked, when combined with the Labor of Feats, it can cause confusion to many non-Pyroi because all Pyroi start their journey to adulthood as a Thrallscout in a Hunting Party or Warband. Every tribe or clan, also called a Warband, has both a Hunting Party and a Warband, in order to gather food and protect them from outside threats, but not every tribe has Embertongues and Volcano Priests. Service as a Thrallscout or Firethane within the tribe is a mandatory service similar to conscription. Once this "conscription" or first task is completed, a young Pyroi may choose their path between the Four Pillars. This choice is what defines a Pyroi's second task and laborious feat, and may even cause him or her to switch loyalty to a different tribe if their's does not train Embertongues or Priests.